This Scottish Estate Once Belonged to the Famous Game Hunter Who Saved Teddy Roosevelt's Life
This property was sold by Strutt & Parker Edinburgh in early 2020.
Hensol House famously belonged to the famous game hunter who saved Teddy Roosevelt's life during the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition.
The property was initially purchased in 1786 by William Cuninghame, a Virginia-based tobacco merchant who also made his fortune in the New World trading sugar and wine in the West Indies. John Cuninghame inherited the estate when he was just 3 years old.
At age 16, in 1822, he partnered with architect Robert Lugar to design the Tudor Gothic house, widely considered a ‘Baby Balmoral’ due to its striking resemblance to the famous Balmoral Castle, the Queen's favourite Scottish residence.
Richard John 'Dick' Cuninghame was one of Britain’s greatest hunters and explorers of the Edwardian era. He was a safari guide to not only the former US president Theodore Roosevelt, but also the future George V and the King of Sweden.
THE ARCHIVE OF RICHARD JOHN CUNINGHAME
He popularized the big game hunt industry before the First World War, but his reputation was firmly established after his success leading the 1909/10 Roosevelt expedition collecting the “specimens” which can be found today at the Smithsonian Natural History museum.
They spent 11 months travelling over 2500 miles (often on foot), collecting 23,151 specimens in total (11,400 animals and countless shells, plants, insects, et al.) which would take the Smithsonian 8 years to catalog. During the expedition, 262 of the animals hunted were consumed as they were needed to feed the large number of porters hired.
US President Theodore Roosevelt on a hunting tour in Central Africa
Roosevelt also wrote his own account of his journey and by his own tally the expedition killed or trapped: 4,000 birds, 2,000 reptiles/amphibians, 500 fish, and 4,897 mammals.
He also kept a tally with his son Kermit Roosevelt, to track the big game shot by the pair, which can be seen in his book Africa Game Trails on pages 457 to 459. Between them they shot 512 big game including: 17 lions, 3 leopards, 7 cheetahs, 9 hyena, 11 elephants, 10 buffalo, 11 black rhino, 9 white rhino.
Cunginhame saved Roosevelt’s life from a crazed bull elephant in Africa, after he shot one bull and was charged by another before he had a chance to reload. Acting quickly, Cunninghame dove behind a tree, aimed and shot the charging beast, killing it in its tracks.
THE ARCHIVE OF RICHARD JOHN CUNINGHAME
The initial sale of the house was accompanied by a sale of its contents at Bonhams which yielded £652,088. This auction uncovered his previously-unseen personal papers 90 years after his death, including journals and photographs, many which chronicled his adventures in East Africa,
The property was updated in the 1920s and then again in the 1960s to include the addition of a conservatory. Many original features remain, such as the architraves on the doors, shutter and cornices, and a Jacobean carved wooden mantelpiece complete with a marble fireplace, incorporating the wedding stone of Richard John Cuninghame and Helen Ethel McDouall.
With beautiful gardens, hundreds of acres of productive farmland, a wildlife reserve and various areas of sporting lands for fishing, deer stalking and pheasant shooting. Additional structures include a farmhouse and five cottages.
Set in the countryside of Galloway, with proximity to Glasgow and Carlisle, this country home offers privacy amidst natural beauty. A mile-long private drive brings visitors to the home, where views open up to the river and beyond.
All photos belong to the listing agency.
